ScittyRRT

Great points . . . thanks for sharing. A couple of other thoughts. It is great when you have patients who are compliant enough to remember to bring their own equipment when they come to the hospital, but perhaps even more important are those who are not compliant. What kind of (gentle) education can you do with them . . . pointing out that several people noted them gasping while sleeping, or that the flow on their Nasal Cannula had to be increased because they were continually desaturating. If they are having problems with the mask (or pillows) not fitting properly, have they considered getting a second person to try to fit them? As you all know, there are many different manufacturers out there, and different people strap those masks on differently. Also remember that some leak is okay (even preferred, according to several experts today). The biggest question is whether the CPAP settings and Interface (mask, pillows) are doing their jobs. If you still note that the patient is obstructing while sleeping, perhaps it isn't!

In our hospital, both RNs and RTs can draw from A-Lines, both after having been signed off that they are competent to do so (which involves numerous supervised draws, including demonstration of the ability to troubleshoot). I agree with what others have said about scope of practice . . . I would think in most states this would be outside their scope. Again, I also would reiterate that this has nothing to do with anyone's ability to draw from an A-Line, but with established scopes of practice . . . which presumably determines what is safe for the patient and what happens if something does go wrong in terms of liability!!